The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content. We've been sending animals into space since before we went ourselves, since prior to the launch of street dog Laika, no one knew if there was some threat beyond the atmosphere that would equal instant death.

Medical experiments on research dogs could be phased out soon -- a change that's based as much on science as ethics. Pressure is coming from within the scientific community as well as from activists, following a string of scandals involving inhumane living conditions.